Chemical Castration Regulation Neglects Victim Rights: Activists

Jakarta Globe. A recently passed regulation allowing for harsher penalties on child sex offenders has failed victims, a leading legal activist has said.

The regulation was passed into law on Wednesday (12/10) during a plenary session at the House of Representatives, six months after it was initially proposed by the government as part of revisions to the Law on Child Protection.

The regulation stipulates additional punishment, including heavier prison sentences and chemical castration, in which male offenders are injected with female hormones to stifle their sex drive. It also requires child sex offenders to be fitted with electronic chips to track their movements following their release.

Offenders can face the death penalty, life imprisonment or 20 years in prison, five years longer than the previous law.

Supriyadi Eddyono, directory of the Jakarta-based Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR), criticized the regulation for neglecting the rights of victims and does not allow for mental health assistance or compensation from the government.

“There is no single article stipulating about children as victims,” he said in a statement on Thursday. Supriyadi’s group is among nearly a hundred civil society organizations opposing the regulation.

“The government should have carried its obligation to give justice for victims. The government is only busy seeking heavier punishments for perpetrators but forgets to prioritize victims,” Supriyadi said.

The government has defended the regulation, believing it would deter child sex offenders and suppress what it has declared an extraordinary crime.